Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the man who created the 911 and the Porsche Design brand, passed away yesterday in Salzburg, Austria. The 76-year-old German designer was born in December 1935, and he was the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, the man who founded the Porsche brand. In 1963 he presented the first Porsche 911 at the Frankfurt Auto Show, which went into production a year later. The original idea behind the styling of the 911 is still in use today, as the German carmaker is notoriously reluctant to changing it. Ferdinand Alexander also designed the Porsche 904, which was its favorite. The development of the 904 took a very short period of time, so the company bosses did not have time to make changes. This makes the Porsche 904 one of Ferdinand Alexander's most original work.
In the 1970's Ferdinand Alexander founded his own industrial design company, called Porsche Design, in Stuttgart, Germany. The new company's first product was a chronograph wristwatch, which was launched in 1973.
Ferdinand Alexander Porsche will be greatly missed, as the automotive industry loses an illustrious designer.
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